Arching At the distibutor
Thread Starter
Keeping Cool
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 488
Likes: 2
From: Redondo Beach CA
Arching At the distibutor
So i was looking under the hood and found the distributor/sparkplug wire arching on this metal hose going into my SR. I would assume that a set of wires should be put in, but what is this metal hose?
Large Impressive Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 65,811
Likes: 71
From: Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die
St. Jude Donor '04-'05-'06-'07
Since the arcing is near or at the cap apparently, replace it too. If carbon tracking has already occurred on it, a path has formed which will probably continue, even with new wires. I'm not sure what the pipe is, just from what I can see in the picture. But right now it's simply the shortest path to ground for your defective wires.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
You want to keep all grounded metal from touching spark plug wires. That is why GM puts wire guides on the engine. Plug wires have microscopic pinholes in them and a potential for sparking through the pinhole to a grounded metal object touching the wire insulation. The spark is supposed to occur in the plug gap inside the cylinder! 
